Nols Nathankski and Eliza Vezen bridge the gap from London to Berlin in this special international episode.

Eliza is a poet and multidisciplinary artist, from everywhere and nowhere, currently living in Berlin.

Eliza is so dedicated to open mic poetry she regularly travels from Berlin to London to perform for 5 minutes at open mics!

Nols and Eliza make poems from @ellarfrears wonderful poetry fruit machine game released on @roughtradebooks

Eliza shouts out the following open mics

@versesverses

@lostsouls

@outcastsonthemic

Subscribe to the patreon to keep this podcast going please!

www.patreon.com/makepoetryweirdagain

Nols sits down with Kristal Sisodia (They/Them), performer, actor and poet extraordinaire to discuss making and performing poetry pre-and post diagnosis, the way pain can make your world small, the life of a disabled performance artist and all the magic they bring to Open Mic.

Nols and Kristal make poems from prompts provided by Deptford Doggerels

Kristal shouts out the following poets

The Metaphorest

Joshua Hallam

Milli Rose

Casey Arturo

Ayo Fawole

A the poet

El crisis

Shore as the Tide

Rob Auton

Poetry for lover girls

Tstarnay

Naheem Bashir

Benjamin Goode

Tish Chhaya

Taraalexx_jay

Tifany Marsah

Elijah Mitchell

Bradley Taylor

Sam Des Fluers

Valera Simonchuk

Chloe Tenasha

SAmYUL David

Vig

I am Tariq

Ella Grace

George Lawrence

Ren

Nols Nathanski

Kavita talks

Kofi Achina

Sarthaksays

Carla Roda

Nols goes deep on the business of poetry and open mic and how you could potentially make £50k a year off poetry* in 1-3 years. This is a silly episode and shouldn't be seen as a get rich quick scheme ;)

• Nols Year 1 Step-by-Step Plan
• Months 1–3: Foundation & Visibility
• Months 4–6: Credibility & First Earnings
• Months 7–9: Professionalisation & Diversification
• Months 10–12: Scaling & Touring Prep
• Example Weekly Routine (from Month 4 onward)
• Long-Term Trajectory Beyond Year 1

• THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE

For the full episode join the PATREON and make Nols RICH!

www.patreon.com/makepoetryweirdagain

Nols sits down with Alannah and Pádraic the owners of Deptford Doggerells a night of poetry and revelry in the AAJA basement in Deptford, Southeast London.

The 3 discuss open mic from Dublin to Deptford. What makes an inclusive night and how to be both a community and an experience. Nols learns he has been writing Doggerels all year.

We make poems with prompts from Word Space's Josh Hallam.

The next Deptford Doggerels is on the 2nd October 2025 at the AAJA Basement in Deptford Southeast London.

The Gang shout out

@kevinblackpoems

@hebah_a

If you wish to send us your poems from the prompts send them to [email protected] and listen to the bonus episodes on

Patreon.com/makepoetryweirdagain

HOW TO MAKE POETRY FROM YOUR SITUATIONSHIPS FOR THE OPEN MIC

Nols takes on the cursed role of master of ceremonies to present a selection of this season's poets and some special guests talking all things situationships.

Back in the olden days you wouldn't see your crush for years, now we take anti-anxiety meds because they didn't heart emoji the song we sent them at 2am.

Situationships aint going anywhere so we may as well make poems out of them.

LISTEN AND WEEP.

POETS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

NOLS NATHANKSKI @NOLSNATHANKSKI

JEAN AKINTOYE @ARBITARY_HUMAN

ELIZA VEZEN @ELIZAVEZEN

STEVIE GRANT @STEVIEPOEMS

GABRIELLE @POETRY_FOR_LOVERGIRLS

ALANNAH CAMPBELL @ALANNAHCAMPBELL

ELIZA FIVER @ELIZAFIVER

THEA @THAT1THEA

IF YOU ENJOYED THE POETS POEMS SEND THEM A DM - NOT THAT KIND OF DM THOUGH!

SEND ME YOUR POEMS TO READ ON A BONUS EPISODE FOR PATREON

Nols Nathankski meets Josh Hallam from Word Space to obsess about Open Mic and Poetry.

Joshua Hallam is a poet and facilitator from Derby. His work has been longlisted in the National Poetry Competition and Live Canon International Prize, highly commended in the Shelley Memorial Prize, Runner up of the Wirral Festival Prize, and been a winner of the Hot Poets Climate Poetry Prize. He is the founder of Word Space – hosting community poetry events and poetry education in London since 2022. He is a graduate of the Poetry School MA Writing Poetry programme and a tutor with The Writing School Online. 

Josh and Nols made poems with three prompts from Alexia Chrysostomou

Josh can be found on Instagram @wordspacepoems

Tickets for Word Space can be found below!

Word Space - Joshua Hallam Events - 6 Upcoming Activities and Tickets | Eventbrite

If you liked these prompts and wish to show us the poems you made email [email protected]

Or Join the Patreon - www.patreon.com/makepoetryweirdagain

Nols Nathankski talks to neurodivergent burnout, quiet self neglect and how you lose your mind after too many open mics.

Nols speaks to turning to poetry for recovery how you can also end up making things much more chaotic and strange.

This is a bonus episode to keep the sponsors happy, but drifts off into some dark poetic territories.

Nols performs 3 new poems and provides 3 prompts at the end of the episode.

Trigger warnings: Self Harm, Burn Out, Eating Disorders, Body Dysmorphia

Get 8 hours sleep, cultivate healthy relationships, exercise, give blood, don't be a poet and avoid open mic if you want to stay sane.

Beateatingdisorders.co.uk

How to help someone with eating disorder - NHS

Nols continues his open mic Journey at the Bosla Arts solidarity workshop at the Jago in Dalston facilitated by Fedzilla. Nols talks to musician and activist Tanyeli Taze who he met at the workshop about their experiences and how to write poems of solidarity.

Tanyeli and Nols made poems with prompts from Dave Jackson-Keen.

Tanyeli recommends

Keiran Goddard

Orchestrated Discontent

Ella Frears

Noah Vale

City Lit

FREE PALESTINE

FREE PALESTINE

FREE PALESTINE

All Patreon Subs this week will be matched by Nols and donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

How You Can Support Our Work - Medical Aid For Palestinians

NOLS AND STEVIE GET FILTHY

Two vile queers putting the world to weird and talking all things poetry, open mic and the decent into puritanism.

Stevie is raising money for Hackney Night Shelter where he volunteers.

Fundraise | Hackney Night Shelter

The Poetry Jam will be at Stokey Books on the 4th September 2025.

www.tickettailor.com/events/hackneynightshelter1/1810955

If you cant make it donate here.

Stevie shouts out

the LGBTQI Open Mic at Morocco Bound Books

Stevie will be performing and getting kinky at LEATHERBOUND community showcase on Saturday 20th September 2025.

Nols makes poems with Jean Akintoye. Hailing from Dalston, Hackney, Jean Akintoye is a London-based performance poet.

He studied the International Baccalaureate at UWC Atlantic College, and has seen print in The Looking Glass Anthology (ed.13 and 14), The Nouse and The Resonance Anthology (2025). Stylistically, Jean aims to strike a balance between the flourishes one would expect from 20th century Irish poetry, the far more disruptive overtones of modern spoken word and, perhaps, just a dash of comedy. This results in a performance style that is as elegant as it is messy, frenetic yet precise, creating a bridge between the 'old' and the 'new.

Jean talks to the poetics of sci-fi, finding poetry, the small spoken word scene in york and performs poems that cut deep.

Jean and Nols use prompts from the PENANCE workshop.

Jean can be found at the below Open Mics

POW Play On Words

Process

That Goddamn Poetry Jam